Santa Barbara County District Attorney charges man for starting weekend fire on Highway 101

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. -- The Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office announced on Tuesday that charges were filed against a Santa Barbara man for causing a fire on Highway 101 in Carpinteria that caused hours-long road closures.

Santiago Garcia Soriano was charged with the felony count of arson of property and misdemeanor count of possession of cocaine, according to Barbara Ross, executive assistant to the DA.

Soriano was arrested just before 5 p.m. Monday night after he told authorities that he started the fire in a culvert on Saturday.

The fire occurred around 6 p.m. Saturday night, and the northbound lanes of Highway 101 were closed until about 9:20 p.m.

A second fire occurred in the same place around 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning, causing the northbound lanes to close once again until around 2:30 a.m.

Soriano is currently being held at the Santa Barbara County Main Jail on a $250,000 bail.

His arraignment is set for Wednesday, Feb. 23.